The Robert Nkemdiche Effect: How to Know When Your 5-Star Recruit Will Decommit

We’ve entered a strange portion of the college football recruiting season, and yes there is such a thing.

Most of the top players in the 2013 class have already committed to a school, although none of this can actually become official until they get their hands on that letter of intent. National Signing Day is still a long way out, and early February can’t get here soon enough for the teams and fans thinking they’ve landed the next big thing.

And so passionate college football devotees are forced to place their faith in the “verbal commitment,” a paperless pledge that confirms a talented high schooler will attend their university of choice.

This advanced pinky swear sometimes plays to form, but, in a lot of instances, they end in heartbreak, nuclear message-board fallout, and tremendous analytics for recruiting websites that gladly broadcast the agony.

The No. 1 recruit in the country—Georgia defensive end Robert Nkemdiche—knows this process well. After verbally committing to Clemson earlier this year, he recently decommitted and is once again looking for a team.

Should we be surprised? Well, no. Nkemdiche’s recruitment has been strange from the get-go, and many assumed that this was far from over even when it was deemed over. This recent change of heart also highlights something you already know.

No player is committed until that piece of paper is signed and in. Once it finally arrives, you are then permitted to celebrate, though you shouldn't celebrate too excessively because that’s all sorts of creepy. Don’t be that guy or gal, and don’t laugh at the Tigers’ misfortune, non-Clemson fans. You could and likely will be next.

How solid is your star recruit’s verbal commitment, and will they eventually follow Nkemdiche’s path and decommit? We’ve created the following questionnaire to help determine if you should be concerned.

SPOILER ALERT: You should.

Has this player visited another school since committing to your program?

1. No, he’s been ours since day one. Don’t even look at him.

2. Yes, but only visits he had planned beforehand. Don’t get any ideas.

3. Yes, but they all do that, you idiot. Ouch, cold.

4. Yes, but it was Kentucky. No, seriously, he visited there.

5. Yes, he visited Alabama. Oh God, we are so #$%^ed.

To be clear, is Alabama currently recruiting this player?

1. No, and it wouldn’t matter if they were.

2. No, thank God.

3. Yes, we’re screwed.

Has this player rapidly improved his recruiting ranking on a major site in the past six months?

1. Yes, which is a great sign. Can’t wait to see him in our uniform!

2. No, he’s actually gotten worse. Still a diamond in the rough if you ask me.

3. Yeah, [insert site here that you now hate] dropped him, but they suck.

4. We’ve outkicked our coverage, and this will end in beer and a broken MacBook.